


Where The Grass is Greener

by Misswaffles



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Abandoned Genocide Route, Ableism, Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, Bad Puns, Big Brother Sans, But Is Mostly Harmless, Canon-Typical Humor, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, Character Development, Child Frisk, Cinnamon Roll Papyrus, Dammit Linda, Flowey Is A Dick, Flowey Redemption, Frisk Uses Sign Language, Frisk is a Sweetheart, Good Brother Papyrus, Houseplant Flowey, Mild Language, Minor Mettaton/Papyrus, Mom Toriel, Multi, Nightmares, Non-Binary Frisk, Non-Binary Monster Kid, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, PTA Sans, Passive-aggression, Post- True Pacifist Ending, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Post-True Route, Puns & Word Play, Referenced Genocide Route, Sans-centric, Sick Character, Sick Sans, Slice of Life, Timelines, Warnings May Change, dunkle sans - Freeform, kind of
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-10
Updated: 2016-03-31
Packaged: 2018-05-18 20:58:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 16,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5942889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Misswaffles/pseuds/Misswaffles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It has been a few months since the barrier was broken. Monsters and humans are living mostly peaceful together, aside from a few hiccups here and there. Toriel opened a school, Frisk has been adopted and is living with Toriel, Sans and Papyrus, and everything seems to be going great. </p>
<p>Until Sans gets asked to fill in for Toriel in the PTA.</p>
<p>*ON HIATUS*</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Start of a Beautiful Rivalry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I asked you mainly because you're very patient. Some of the members can be quite...ridiculous at times."
> 
> "I got it covered, Tori, no need to worry."

The sky was clear and the morning sun just peeked over the mountain that everyone was formerly trapped under. The pinks and blues melted together in a beautiful sight that Sans would never get tired of. The short Skeleton Monster stretched and sat up. It was mornings like these that he could forget the potential inevitability of a reset and wake up not to sunlight, but snow and darkness. He scratched his shoulder blade as he slid out of bed and moseyed on over to the closet on the far side of the room. He carefully stepped over any socks or shirts that littered the floor as not to trip. He made a mental note to tidy up before a self-sustaining garbage tornado formed.

Once dressed, he exited his room and made his way down stairs, following the smell of food being cooked. By the smell of it, it was eggs and pancakes. His nonexistent stomach growled at the thought of it. Entering the kitchen, he was greeted with the sight of Toriel cooking breakfast and his brother and Frisk sitting at the table. Papyrus was eagerly chatting about his plans for the day while Frisk looked half asleep. Sans chuckled and ruffled the child's hair as he walked by. " 'Morning, kid," he greeted. Frisk giggled and waved at him. Sans sat down in the chair between Papyrus and Frisk.

"Good morning  Sans," Toriel said, turning her head slightly to look at the other and smiled sweetly.

"WOWIE, YOU'RE UP EARLY! NORMALLY YOU SLEEP UNTIL NOON," Papyrus said. "WHAT'S THE OCCASION?" Sans shrugged.

"Ah, just felt like being a bone-afide morning person," Sans stated. He smiled at his own, admittedly terrible pun. Toriel laughed, as she always did, and Papyrus 'NYEH!'ed in annoyance. "Plus, I figured I can take the kid to school today."

Frisk's face immediately lit up. It wasn't often that Sans took them to school, but when he did, they always stopped for orange juice or whatever else Frisk was in the mood to drink along the way. Sometimes they even got candy. Toriel placed plates a food in front of each one of them, pancakes in various fun shapes unique the them. Frisk had a heart shaped pancake, Papyrus a smiley face, and Sans a vaguely trombone shaped pancake. Frisk signed out a quick thank you to the Boss Monster before beginning to eat.

"THANK YOU, MISS TORIEL!"

"Thanks, Tori."

"You're quite welcome. Oh! Sans, before I forget, I wish to ask you something."

Sans looked up from his food, in the middle of drowning everything in ketchup. He raised a nonexistent brow. "What is it?"

"Today is a Parent-Teacher Association meeting and I was wondering if you could go in my place," She began, sitting down in her chair and setting her breakfast on the table. "I know you're busy, and I normally wouldn't ask this, but I can't make it to this meeting. I have projects and papers that need graded by the end of the day."

"Sure, I don't see why not," the short skeleton said. He continued to drench his breakfast in ketchup before setting the bottle down and beginning to eat.

Toriel clasped her hands together and grinned. "Wonderful! Thank you, Sans, you're a life saver!" Her smile fell a bit, though. "I asked you mainly because you're very patient. Some of the members can be quite...ridiculous at times."

"I got it covered, Tori, no need to worry."

* * *

 Frisk slipped their book bag on their back, small bottle of orange juice in hand, and hopped out of the passenger seat of the red car.  They turned and waved goodbye to Sans, then shut the door and walked to the entrance of the school. Sans waved back, then got ready to pull out of the parking lot when  bright blue sports car whizzed past, barely missing the bumper, and hastily pulled into the stall next to him. The skeleton jumped, startled by how close they'd come to crashing into the car--which was Papyrus's so they'd be in a world of trouble for wrecking it-- and was thankful he didn't pull out any more than he already did. He slid down in the seat a bit with a sigh and ran a hand over his eye sockets. It was going to be one of those days, wasn't it?

He glance off to the side when he hear the other car's door slam shut. From the car emerged a blonde woman, hair tied up in a bun, and a patterned dress that screamed "I am a teacher" complete with a bag slung over her arm. She was looking down at her cell phone, which Sans didn't doubt was what she was doing when she nearly hit him.

Well, at least this was the last time he'd see the lady. Now, all he had to do was get home, chill out for a bit, go to work, then get to the meeting.

Piece of cake.

* * *

 Sans walked down the hall, looking up at the signs that would point him to the meeting room. When he finally reached the meeting room, his trademark smile fell slightly. There was that lady from earlier in the morning. She was standing outside of the double doors talking to a slightly shorter brunette in a black dress in front of a podium where he presumed that you needed to sign in or something like that. 

Well, then.

He shrugged and decided that it wasn't a big deal and that maybe it was just a fluke. He approached the two women. "Heya."

The two looked down at him. The brunette seemed welcoming enough, but the blonde wrinkled her nose ever so slightly. Sans didn't pay any mind to the action. He kept the friendly smile on his face as he continued speaking.

"Is this where the PTA meeting's being held?" He asked. The two women glanced at each other before the brunette leaned down to be at least close to face to face with him. Ok, that was slightly demeaning, but it wasn't the first time someone did that with him.

"I'm sorry, Dear, but the PTA is for adults only."

His eye sockets narrowed slightly in mild confusion. "I beg your pardon?"

"Are your parents in the PTA, Sweety?" The brunette asked in a way that one would speak to a lost child. His smile dropped upon realizing what was going on. It wasn't that big of a deal to him, but it was  slightly annoying nonetheless.

"I _am_ an adult," he corrected, perhaps a bit more harshly then intended. The woman's expression changed to that of surprise and embarrassment, cheeks turning a bright pink. She stood straight and patted down her dress as she said a quick apology. His smile returned nearly instantly. "No big deal, it happens to the best of us. I'm filling in for Toriel."

"Oh, yes, Ms. Dreemurr," The blonde spoke up this time. "Just sign in here and then you can go in."

"Thanks," Sans pulled his left hand out of his pocket and approached the podium, reaching up and grabbing the pen and sign-in sheet, signing his name and returning the items to their proper spot. He then walked into the room. It was mostly humans, a few monster peppered here and there in the group of parents and/or guardians. A few people immediately struck him as people he should avoid, but thankfully it wasn't that many. He strode up to an empty seat and sat down, leaning back in the chair.  The human next to him, a petite dark haired woman who seemed to also be new to the group, turned to him. She gave him a shy smile.

"Um, hello. You're new here, too, yes?" She asked.

"Yup, "He sat up in his seat. "Name's Sans."

"My name is Kavita," She said.

"Nice to meet you, Kavita. Glad to know I'm not the only newbie. I'd get a bit bone-ly," Sans chuckled at his own pun. Kavita laughed as well.

"You like puns, too?"

"You kidding? I'm a genuine pun-ster."

That earned another small laugh from her. The two continued talking for a while before the meeting officially started. The conversation was mainly puns and what they did for work. Apparently, she was an owner of a small convenience store that was right across the street from where he worked. He made a mental note to drop by some time.

When the meeting started was when things got shaky. It started out fine, everyone introduced themselves, they talked about what to do for fund raisers, certain events, field trips, things like that. At one point, Sans dozed off.

"...ns? Mister Sans?"

The skeleton yawned and sat up. "Hm?"

"We were discussing vaccinations and whether they should be mandatory or not," The blonde woman from before--Linda, right. He remembered introducing herself in the beginning-- stated. "And the votes are even. You need to vote on this issue as well."

He tiredly blinked, then rubbed the back of his skull. "Well, I think vaccines should be mandatory still," He said. The woman crossed her arms over her chest and huffed.

"But what about the harm they do? Don't you care about that?"

She was honestly trying to argue about this? Not that she couldn't have her opinion, but he'd already voted. That should be the end of it, right? The skeleton monster quirked a nonexistent brow at her. "Harm?"

"Yes, harm! They cause autism and can even kill children!"

He slowly blinked. She was serious. He resisted the urge to face-palm at the claim. "So, you'e telling me that you'd rather have kids catch the measles or any other disease and die from that?"

Linda felt her eye twitch. Never has anyone spoken to her like this, they either agreed or were too afraid to speak up, and yet here was this Monster, speaking to her like she was an idiot. Sans felt himself shrink a bit under the scrutiny, but otherwise stood his ground. "Of course not but--"

"Vaccines help children become immune to terrible diseases so they don't die from them. The ones that do get hurt by them are usually too young, allergic to an ingredient, or their immune systems are too weak, so everyone else has to be immune to _protect_ those people," Sans stated, tapping a bony finger on the table for emphasis. "The autism thing was started by a doctor that _forged his research_ and was endorsed by a celebrity trying to start a trend."  He looked around the room. Some people looked stunned, others nodded in agreement, and the rest were watching like they were witnessing the most epic battle of the century. Sans wasn't one to argue, or even debate, but she asked for his opinion and, well, he was stating it and backing it up.

"Well, it may be that way for Monster children, but humans are completely different," Linda scoffed. Sans tilted his head slightly and shrugged.

"You got a point there, but I still stand by my vote," He stared the woman right in the eyes. "Because I've got a human kid that I have to care for, and I'm not gonna sit back and let your personal life choices get them sick."

He was pretty sure he heard a pin drop with how quiet everything got. Seeing as the skeleton wasn't going to budge, Linda cleared her throat and spoke. "Alright, then, the majority votes that vaccines remain mandatory."

* * *

 Sans stepped into the house, closing the door behind himself and stripping off his jacket, something he didn't typically do. Normally, his jacket stayed on all day until it was time for bed. No one was home, so the skeleton had time to sit back and relax. He hung the jacket up on the coat rack and went over to the couch, plopping down and turning the tv on. He absent-mindedly flipped through the channels before deciding that nothing interesting was on and fell asleep.

The skeleton woke up to the sound of the front door opening. He stretched and yawned, sitting up. Toriel and Frisk were home, the motherly moster having picked them up from their after-school activities. "Hey, you two." Frisk waved at him before going to the kitchen. Toriel sat down next to the other monster.

"Hello, Sans. I assume the meeting went well?" Toriel asked.

"Yeah, for the most part," he replied.

"Linda started a debate, didn't she?"

Sans nodded and yawned again. The Boss monster frowned. "It wasn't that bad, though."

"I know, I was just hoping that wouldn't happen," she sighed. "Mrs. Busch can get a little heated when there's a differing opinion."

"If what I saw today was 'heated', I should be fine," Sans said. Toriel quirked a brow.

"What do you mean?"

"I want to keep going."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here was chapter one! I hope you liked it, this is my first Undertale fanfic and first fanfic posted onto this site, so it's a bit on the shaky side. Don't be too harsh on me.


	2. Tribulation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "By the end of the day, you'll be ENERGIZED AND FOCUSED!"

Sans woke with a start, left eye burning an electric blue and yellow. A hand flew up and clutched at his sternum as he tried desperately to even out his breathing. After a few minutes, he closed his eye sockets and ran the palm of his hand over his face and wiped off the cold sweat forming on his brow once his eye stopped emitting magic, the memory of the dream fading. He thought that the nightmares would stop now that things were relatively fine. At least they weren't very often. The skeleton monster opened his eyes and stared up at the ceiling. It wasn't his bedroom in Snowdin. Good. He sat up, realizing that at one point in the night he had fallen out of bed and tangled himself up in his blankets. He balled the blankets together and haphazardly tossed them back onto the bed and stood up. his body ached, probably from a mix of the fall and any violent movements he made during the terrible dream. He got dressed, reaching for his jacket and finding it wasn't in its usual spot. He frowned, realizing it was downstairs still on the coat rack. Tiredly, he exited the room and went down stairs. Thank God he didn't have to work today, he wouldn't be able to stay awake and human workplaces were a lot less lax than in the Underground. He took his jacket off of the coat rack and slipped it on, only slightly more comfortable now that it was on. Something didn't feel right about today, and it wasn't just the nightmare he had just minutes earlier.  
  
Something big was gong to happen and he didn't know what.  
  
It was times like these that he wished he was better at hiding how he was really feeling. Today was Papyrus's day off as well, and the taller skeleton could read him like a book. Sans plopped down at the kitchen table, looking exhausted. Papyrus looked up from the puzzle he was working on and grinned. "YOU'RE UP EARLY AGAIN! NOT AS EARLY AS YESTERDAY BUT--" he stopped, noticing his his brother was slouching forward and absent-mindedly tapping his bony digits on the table's surface. Normally, he was all ears, but now he seemed uncharacteristically distracted. "SANS, ARE YOU FEELING WELL?"  
  
"Yeah, I'm fine," Sans replied with a yawn. Papyrus set the paper and pencil down and crossed his arms over his chest. "I just worked myself down to the 'bone' yesterday." Papyrus ignored the pun.  
  
"SANS, YOU LOOK LIKE YOU DIDN'T REST AT ALL. YOU'RE NORMALLY SO GOOD AT SLEEPING," He pointed out. The shorter skeleton monster's smile twitched, having been caught in his lie. He chuckled mirthlessly and shook his head.  
  
"Just a rough night is all. It happens," The answer was as short and as it was vague, but that's just how he was. At least he admitted that something was wrong. Papyrus knew better than to pry; If Sans wanted to talk, he would. Forcing him to was like pulling teeth. Papyrus leaned over and patted his brother's shoulder, not saying a word. The action was oddly comforting and Sans seemed to relax nearly instantly. "Thanks, bro."  
  
"NOT A PROBLEM," the lanky monster pulled away and leaned back a bit in his chair. "UNDYNE, ALPHYS AND I ARE GOING TO HANG OUT TODAY. PERHAPS YOU SHOULD COME ALONG."  
  
"Nah, I'm not in the mood to run laps around the city."  
  
"AS FUN AS THAT WOULD BE, WE'LL JUST BE AT UNDYNE'S PLACE COOKING AND WATCHING THOSE WEIRD CARTOONS ALPHYS LIKES SO MUCH."  
  
"Have extra fun for me."  
  
"SANS."  
  
He paused, trying to find a way to talk himself out of this, but it seemed like his brother wasn't going to budge. Probably for a good reason. Some familiar faces and relaxation would do him some good. Especially after the night that he had. Sans shrugged. "Alright, you convinced me. I'll go with you."  
  
"EXCELLENT! I'LL CALL UNDYNE AND TELL HER YOU'RE COMING WITH," Papyrus exclaimed. He eagerly jumped up from his seat and rushed over to the phone. Sans couldn't help but smile at his brother's enthusiasm. The smallest things seem to make him happy.

* * *

  
  
Sans laid on the couch, head in Toriel's lap. The Boss Monster gingerly rubbed his forehead with her thumb, the action almost enough to lull him to sleep. "Undyne should be here to pick you and Papyrus up soon," She said. Sans made a noise of acknowledgement as he drifted off to sleep, making her laugh softly. "You lazy thing."  
  
"Don't you mean 'lazy bones'?" He cracked an eye socket open and looked up at her. She was smiling that warm smile of hers that seemed to light up the entire room. Sans couldn't help but genuinely smile back.  
  
"I see you are feeling more 'humerus' than you did earlier," Toriel giggled. "In all seriousness, though, you do seem to be feeling much better."  
  
"Told you I just needed to relax a bit. No big deal," He said. The skeleton nuzzled the palm of her hand with the top of his skull. She slid her hand down to his cheek and tilted his head upward slightly, making him look at her face. Her expression was serious and Sans's smile fell.  
  
"Sans, if there's anything wrong, you don't have to be afraid to tell anyone," She began. "I know it can be difficult but please know that we will try our best to help." Before he could answer back, the door bell rang. There was a noise from upstairs that sounded suspiciously like "SHE'S HERE" before Papyrus practically threw himself down the stairs. He sharply turned and grabbed Sans' arm, picking him up with ease and tucking him under his arm.  
  
"LET'S GO!" He cheered. Sans raised a hand, waving goodbye to Toriel.  
  
"Be back in a few hours, say goodbye to Frisk for us. Call if you need anything," Sans said as he was carried off out the front door.  
  
Sans looked out of the window as Undyne drove. They had to pick up some ingredients for what they would cooking. Or at least what she and Papyrus would be cooking. Sans had a feeling he'd nap on the couch or watch anime with Alphys. Undyne was talking, presumably to Papyrus, so the short monster didn't pay much mind to what she was saying, letting his mind wander. Until she said his name.  
  
"Sans, stop zoning out!" She barked. "No wonder you invited him along, Papyrus, he's totally out of it more than usual." She turned her head slightly to glance back at him, shooting him a toothy grin. "By the end of the day, you'll be ENERGIZED AND FOCUSED!"  
  
"D-don'the be too rough, Undyne," Alphys stuttered, knowing full well how her girlfriend could get. Sans couldn't help but snicker and shake his head. He had a feeling today was going to be interesting. With that thought, he ended up dozing off.  
  
He woke up with a tiny yelp. Amazingly, despite being startled, his magic didn't flare up. Good, because he was still in the car. It was parkedand the only other person in the car with him was Papyrus. It was a dream that woke him, he knew that much, but about what he just couldn't remember. Maybe that was for the best.  
  
"ARE YOU ALRIGHT?" Papyrus asked, concerned. Sand didn'the answer, instead he unbuckled his seat belt and scooted over to his brother and rested his head on his shoulder. Papyrus wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "WAS IT ANOTHER BAD DREAM?" He nodded. Papyrus tapped a gloved finger on his chin, thinking. "MAYBE TONIGHT YOU CAN HAVE A SLEEP OVER IN MISS TORIEL'S ROOM, LIKE WHEN FRISK HAS A BAD DREAM!"  
  
Sans face turned a deep blue in embarrassment at the thought of sharing a room-- or even a bed-- with the Boss Monster. They were dating, yes, but it only started a few days ago officially and he highly doubted she'd be up to sharing a bed with him. "Um, Pap, it's different with me and Tori." Papyrus tilted his head slightly, not quite understanding the implications. Papyrus was observant and much smarter than what some gave him credit for, but he was utterly oblivious as to how relationships worked. "I'll, uh, ask her later."  
  
There was a tap at the window and the two skeleton's turned to see Undyne standing there, arms full of grocery bags. She motioned for them to get out and the two obliged. Alphys was exiting the store, more bags in hand. That was a lot more than what either skeleton was expecting for them to buy, but this was Undyne they were talking about. Go big or go home was the definition of her entire life. Undyne noticed that the shorter of the two's face was still flushed and she snorted, setting the bags down on top of the trunk of the car. "Papyrus, what did you do? He's like a giant blueberry."  
  
Before Sans could protest, his brother was already explaining. "I SIMPLY SUGGESTED THAT HE AND MISS TORIEL SHOULD HAVE A SLEEP OVER IN HER ROOM SINCE HE IS HAVING NIGHTMARES."  
  
Undyne covered her mouth in a vain attempt to stifle a laugh, both at how innocent the tall skeleton was and, mainly, at the look of sheer horror on Sans's face as his entire skull practically turned cobalt in embarrassment before he threw up his hood and tightened it as much as possible in an attempt to hide. Alphys put a hand on her snout and tried to resist the urge to laugh at the other monster's misfortune. "Oh my God, Papyrus," The reptile snickered.  
  
"WHAT?"

* * *

  
  
Well, Sans was right about something. He was currently watching anime with Alphys while the not-so-distant sounds of Undyne and Papyrus cooking rang through the house. Sans wasn't really paying attention to the show, he was more entertained by his brother and friend slamming pots and pans together and Undyne complaining how human appliances weren't awesome since they had safety features that'd help prevent the house being burnt down. Alphys would occasionally shove his arm and point frantically at the screen when something was happening that she was excited about or go on a mini rant when something unsavory happened. He didn't mind, though. He was used to Papyrus's more animated reactions to tv, this was tame compared to that.  
  
"I dunno, it looks like Asuka is really into Sakutaro," Sans said upon hearing Alphys go on and on about how another two characters in the show were made for each other. She gasped dramatically and put her hands up to her cheeks.  
  
"But just look at Miki and Sakutaro! They're perfect together!" Alphys exclaimed. Sans chuckled. It wasn't often that she was so passionate, even now that everyone was no longer trapped underground. It was nice, to be honest, seeing someone normally so nervous and skittish being themselves without anything or anyone holding them back. Undyne was certainly rubbing off on her in some ways.  
  
"So, Doc, how's things with Undyne going?" He asked after she was done with her spiel. She went from squealing otaku to jittery monster in 0.3 seconds flat.  
  
"It's been great," She said. "We're actually thinking about getting a cat. Or dog. We can't decide yet."  
  
"Why not both?"  
  
"M-maybe that'd be a bit too much for us at one time. Both dogs and cats can be a handful by themselves."  
  
"Hmmm...in that case, a cat would the the 'purr'-fect choice."  
  
She gave him an unimpressed look, which made him snort.  
  
"Ok, maybe that one was a bit 'fur'-dictable," He laughed at his own dumb pun again. Compared to earlier that day, he was feeling much better. Maybe that feeling that something was going to happen, be it good or bad, was just residual paranoia from the dream that he couldn't even remember anymore.  
  
Then his cellphone started to ring.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that ends chapter 2. Our plot is finally rolling! I don't want this to be just Sans and Linda arguing like toddlers, but there is going to be plenty of that in the future, I assure you.


	3. Buttercup Petals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You'll be holding me captive, then. Golly, that sounds much better."

It was a wonder why Undyne even drove a car, really. She was a thousand times quicker sprinting full speed down the street with Alphys, Papyrus, and Sans tucked under her arms like living duffle bags, even when there were people walking and minding their own business. Thankfully, no one got mowed over by her as she made a mad dash down the street. Sans had decided to text Toriel in the meantime, keeping her updated and gaining more information on what was happening since calls were out of the question at the time being. The signal was so garbled that they could barely understand each other. Apparently, Frisk said they needed something from the Underground that they forgot from their last visit a few weeks ago and they hadn't come back out yet and she couldn't find them. He reassured her that he'd find them if they didn't turn up before he, Undyne, Alphys and Papyrus got there. He had a feeling what they were doing in the Underground.

Unyne slowed to a stop right outside of the mouth of the cave they'd emerged out of just months prior and set her companions down. Immediately, Papyrus charged in yelling Frisks's name in concern "Papyrus, wait, we haven't even made a search plan yet!" Undyne called after him in vain. She huffed and ran after him. It took a moment or two for Alphys to regain her balance after the semi-rough trip as she adjusted her glasses. 

"You go ahead and look around for 'em. Be right back," Sans said, waving at her as he walked in the opposite direction of where he was supposed to go.

"W-wait, Sa--" The reptile monster tried to stop him, but before she knew it, he was gone. "Shoot."

Sans was in the Ruins in a literal flash. He walked down the now mostly abandoned halls. The occasional Froggit hopped up to him and pointed in the direction they saw Frisk going. Sans followed their directions, teleported over puzzles and made sure not to step on the poor spiders that were still there until he made it to the beginning. Where Frisk fell in the Underground, encountered that damn flower, and started their journey. It was almost nostalgic entering the room despite him never been there himself. Immediately, he saw Frisk kneeling down in the dirt in front of something golden.

Flowey. They were with Flowey.

His eye flashed blue for a brief second before he reigned back in control of his magic and ducked behind a pillar as to not be seen. Not yet, at least. He knew Frisk was doing something down here, but he never bothered to find out just _what_. He watched as Frisk opened their backpack and pulled out a flowerpot, setting it down next to the sentient flower. Flowey gave the child a skeptical look. "You expect me to go with you?"

Frisk nodded. He tilted his head and scoffed.

"Please. As if I'd let myself be held prisoner!"

They frowned and shook their head, then started to sign. 'You won't be a prisoner.'

"You'll be holding me captive, then. Golly, that sounds much better," He rolled his eyes.

'No. You'll be living with us like a member of the family.'

The flower blinked, then laughed, two tiny fangs forming on his upper lip and eyes becoming large and black, say for slit-like white pupils and leaned forward menacingly. "You idiot! What makes you think I won't just kill your friends?!"

'I know you changed.'

Flowey pulled back, face returning to normal. He looked as though someone just unexpectedly slapped him. Getting over the initial shock, he drooped his head slightly, petals falling forward. "No, I didn't."

'Of course you did. You would have tried to kill me months ago if you hadn't.'

So, they had been visiting the demon flower for months, now. How often in those months, he didn't now. Sans figured they were just visiting monster's that hadn't left the Underground. Flowey growled and his head snapped up. "So what?! I could just be toying with you for all you know!" he then started to laugh, face morphing once more. "If you take me with you, I'll kill _everyone_!" He was snapped out of his ranting, though, by Frisk pulling a ball from their book bag and rolling it over to him. He stared at the ball for a few moments before scowling and pushing it back. "I don't want to play."

They rolled it back. He growled and smacked the ball back to them with a vine.

"Stop it!"

They rolled it back.

"I said stop it!"

And again.

"I don't need you to be nice to me!"

And again.

"I don't want you to keep me company...!"

And again. This time, Flowey didn't hit the ball back. Instead, he sat there shivering in what appeared to be anger.

"Stop. Being. Stupid! I don't want to go with you!" He growled. Frisk just sat there and watch the flower rant and rave. "You'll get everyone you love killed! Do you want that? Well?!"

'That won't happen,' They signed. Flowey grit his teeth and was about to snap at them again. 'I believe you can be a good person. You just need a little help.'

"You can't take me with you. I... I..." He lowered his head, face no longer visible, and hiccuped. He raised his head again, face now that of a monster child of the same kind as Toriel and Asgore. "I don't want to hurt anyone."

It didn't take long for Sans to tell who the flower was mimicking. Why he was imitating Asriel, he didn't know, but the small, pathetic voice was definitely making him feel bad for being tempted to blast the flower with a Gaster Blaster just moments ago. Flowey sobbed and didn't protest when Frisk scooted over and hugged him. The skeleton monster was half expecting to see a ring of little white bullets to surround the child, but instead Flowey buried his face in Frisk's shoulder and continued to cry. Frisk was talking, something they only did when they had to due to how difficult it was sometimes, but it was too low for Sans to make anything out. The skeleton monster watched for a few more moments before he turned and exited the room. He'd keep a metaphorical ear out, but he figured Frisk knew what they were doing.

* * *

 Toriel rushed into the room, looking frazzled to say the least. She saw Sans and quickly made her way over to him, hugging him and lifting him up at the same time. "You actually came," She said. She held him out in front of herself. "Did you find Frisk? I've been looking everywhere and--"

"Yep, I found them," He stated. "They should be out in a few minutes."

"Oh, thank goodness. I was worried something happened. Normally they don't go very far in, and even then, it's only for a few minutes," She explained. The Boss Monster set him back down on the ground and dusted him off. "Sorry."

"No problem," He shrugged. "Frisk should be out in a few."

As if on cue, Frisk entered the room. They froze upon seeing Sans and Toriel, not expecting the two to be there, looking like they were caught with their hand in the cookie jar. They held their book bag close and waved at the two. "Oh, there you are" Toriel sighed in relief and knelt down, pulling the child in for a hug. "You had me worried; I thought you had gotten hurt with how long it was taking you."

Frisk wiggled free and quickly signed an apology and an excuse as to why it took them so long: Something about getting lost. One that Sans knew very well was an utter lie. They kept their bag close to their chest, as if protecting something inside. "What do you got there?" He asked. The child signed to him that it was nothing. "Really? Looks like you're being mighty protective of it."

Frisk shook their head, but something in the bag noticeably shifted. Caught.

"Frisk, what are you hiding?" Toriel asked. Frisked sighed and gently set the bag down, whatever inside now starting to thrash about. The unzipped the bag and out popped a golden flower. A sentient golden flower that gasped and coughed. "Oh my!"

"ACK! Don't hold the bag so tightly, you nearly suffocated me!" Flowey barked, not even noticing the two monsters at first. When he did, his expression changed from annoyance to fear and slowly turned around. Toriel looked positively stunned, while Sans was giving the flower a look that said "try anything and I'll kill you". The flower gulped. He wasn't so much worried about her as he was of him. "...crap."

* * *

 

Undyne crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at the flower, who was currently cowering against Frisk's chest. "So, you're telling us that you want to take that thing home?" Frisk nodded. "That's a terrible idea!"

"This doesn't seem like a good idea. I mean, he did try to take everyone's SOUL," Alphys added.

"MAYBE HE LEARNED HIS LESSON," Papyrus said. Frisk looked up at the tall skeleton monster. At least someone seemed to be with them on this.

"I would like to believe that, Papyrus," Toriel began. "But I'm not sure we can trust him."

"What makes you think he won't try that stunt again?" Undyne growled. "Especially with a ton of humans around."

The child frowned and set the flower pot Flowey was in down. They quickly signed a rebuttal out. 'I know he's changed. I've been visiting him since the barrier's been broken and he hasn't tried attacking me once.'

"SEE? HE'S GOTTEN MUCH BETTER!" Papyrus grinned. Flowey glanced up at him. The skeleton was always sickeningly optimistic, but in this case he was grateful for it.

"Or, he might be tricking us like he did before," the fish monster stated. Frisked stomped their foot, a trait they picked up from Papyrus and signed again.

'Most of you tried to kill me at least once, so what's the difference?'

Flowey snickered at the faces they all made. They had them there.

"You do have a point there..." Toriel said. "Well, if you are so set on this, then I suppose that Flowey can stay."

"I say we give it a shot," Sans suggested. "Maybe they have changed." Flowey blinked. Sans was actually willing to give them a chance? He never thought the big boned skeleton would ever even think of doing that. And yet here he was, casually standing there with his hands in his pockets as if he wasn't standing with someone who could easily kill him without a thought. Well, that's how he figured it was, until Sans glared down at him.

Oh. He was going to test him; See how long it would take for him to slip up before having to act.

This was a mistake.

"Um...if y-you're sure about this, th-then ok," Alphys gulped. "B-but maybe you shouldn't leave him alone."

"Fine, whatever. But, if that little baaaaa---er, jerk-- tries anything, he's in for a beating, got it?" Undyne warned, looking down at the flower. Yep, this was a mistake. Frisk nodded and picked the flower back up.

"HURRAY! NOW I CAN REOPEN THE FLOWEY FAN-CLUB!" The tall skeleton monster cheered. Sans raised a brow at the statement, but chose not to comment on it. His brother was always up to something odd.

"Welcome to the family, 'bud'," Sans said, smiling at his own pun, especially when the flower made an annoyed groan in response.

* * *

 

It was nearly noon when Sans rolled over and yawned. He slept like a rock, which was unexpected given the day he had the night before. He laid there for a moment or two, trying to remember if "adopting" the homocidal plant was a dream or not, Deciding that it wasn't, he sat up and stretched. The house was still standing so that was a good sign. Getting up and getting dressed, he walked down the stairs and to the kitchen. It was the weekend, so Frisk and Toriel were home and Papyrus was at work until three pm, which would be when Sans left for his job. Toriel was making lunch and Frisk was drawing something, with Flowey sitting right next to the paper watching them draw. An involuntary shiver ran down the skeleton's spine. This was certainly going to take some getting used to. He took a seat and leaned back in the chair, yawning. "Good mornin'."

"Good morning, Sans," The Boss Monster greeted as she usually did. Frisk looked up from their drawing and waved before going back to drawing. Flowey glanced up and gave the skeleton and brief nod before going back to looking at the paper the child as scribbling on. "So, Flowey, you have a good night?" Might as well try to be civil.

"If by 'good' you mean I barely slept at all, then yes. it was a good night. Idiot," The flower's voice was practically dripping with sarcasm as he rolled his eyes. Frisk frowned at him, then scribbled something down. The sentient flower's jaw dropped and he hopped a bit in the flower pot he was in. "Hey, that shouldn't count!"

"What are you working on, kid?" The skeleton asked. Frisk set their colored pencil down and picked the paper up, turning towards him. It was a chart, with a picture of Flowey and a bright red bar next to him that was nearly at the top of his petals. "Got inspired by that movie with the alien dog thing, huh?" Frisk smiled and nodded.

"It's my 'badness level', and it's unfairly high because you keep adding things that shouldn't count!" Flowey complained. If he had arms, he would have crossed them as he started pouting. Which, of course, was added to the ever growing list of things that were being added to his badness level.

"Looks like someone's 'flora'-getting their manners," Sans smirked. That earned him a hiss from the flower, but he just chuckled. Flowey was about to say something when a sandwich was place in front of him. The flower looked up, seeing Toriel was right behind him. She looked down and gave the other a small smile.

"Maybe something to eat will brighten your mood," She suggested. The flower didn't say anything as he picked the sandwich up with vines and started to eat. She set another sandwich down on the table next to the drawing Frisk was working on. "Sans, would you like one as well?"

"Sounds good to me," he replied. "Hey, Flowey, what do you say?"

"Thank you," The flower said in between bites. Frisk smiled and erased some of the red bar from the drawing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this chapter took a million years to write out, then rewrite. Then rewrite again because my computer died midway through and I forgot to save. That's always fun. But, it's here, and I'm glad this chapter is done because it was like pulling teeth. Next chapter should be much, much better and less rushed, I promise.
> 
> Also! If you guys want, you can check out art of Where the Grass is Greener right here: http://askthesmallscientist.tumblr.com/tagged/where%20the%20grass%20is%20greener
> 
> I'll try not to post anything too spoilery, or things that aren't currently tagged.


	4. Round 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Tell Mrs. Busch she sucks as a teacher."

It'd been several days since Flowey had joined the odd little family of his. He was improving, still rude, but improving nonetheless, say for when someone else was over. It became an unofficial rule to watch the flower like a hawk when someone else who wasn't Sans, Toriel, Papyrus or Frisk was supervising. Except with Asgore, oddly enough, Flowey was petty well behaved around him. He even would drink tea with the former King of Monsters, though he would barely speak to him, much like how he was when left alone with Toriel. Any other time, he was a loud mouth and would be purposely insulting and terrorize any visitors for laughs.

Sans walked inside, closing the door behind him. It was a slow day at work and he was glad to be home. Mainly to make sure a certain house guest didn't destroy everything. While he was getting better in terms of not being a little jerk, he still didn't trust the flower as far as he could throw him. On the couch sat Frisk with said house guest next to them on the end table next to the couch. Frisk had a pile of papers in front of them on the tiny desk they used for their homework and was glaring down at one of said papers as if willing it to just disappear, while Flowey had his face buried in a cushion and was screaming in frustration. "What's up?" Flowey lifted his head.

"We've been trying to solve this stupid homework for thirty minutes," He mumbled, then buried his face back in the cushion again. Sans scratched the back of his skull.

"It's math, isn't it?" He asked. Frisk nodded. "Figured as much. Here, let me take a look." Frisk thrust the paper at him in frustration and scooted over. He sat down and looked the paper over. His smile faded. "...what?"

"I TOLD YOU IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE!" Flowey roared, muffled by the pillow.

"No, no, it's not that. They just have you doing it weird," Sans said. He leaned forward and set the paper on the desk and picked the pencil up. "C'mere." Frisk scooted back over, looking down at the paper. Curious, Flowey lifted his head and stretched as far as he could so he could see before the child picked him up and set him on their lap. He walked them through how to solve the problem, explaining how it worked, why it worked, and then handed the pencil back to Frisk. "Alright, now try to solve the next one." They worked through the problem like how Sans showed them, solving it with ease. "See? This way's way easier. Finish that up and go to bed, ok? it's waaay past your bed time."

Frisk nodded and finished the page, then stuffed it in their binder before putting the rest of the binders and papers sprawled out on the desk in their book bag, yawning. The picked Flowey up and started walking upstairs to their room. Sans looked at the clock. It was nearly 11 pm, definitely way past the kid's bed time. Frisk was going to have a heck of a time getting up in the morning. He folded the small desk up and set it aside so it was out of the way, then made sure the doors and windows were locked before going to his room.

* * *

 

Sans was right in his assumption that Frisk would have a terrible time getting up in the morning. The child had their head down on the table and were snoring softly, having fallen back to sleep after coming down stairs. Toriel gently tapped their shoulder, waking them up, and set their breakfast down on the table. "Are you ok?"

Frisk yawned and nodded.

"They ended up having to stay up until 11 doing homework," Flowey tiredly grumbled, hunkered down in a small ball in the flower pot. He straightened up when the plate of food was set in front of him.

"Oh, dear. Frisk, you could have woken me so I could help you," Toriel frowned. The child just shrugged and started eating.

"MAYBE A PUZZLE WILL HELP YOU WAKE UP," Papyrus offered, holding out a Junior Jumble for the child to do. They shook their head. The last thing they wanted to do right now was think. "IF YOU CHANGE YOUR MIND, JUST ASK."

"You're definitely going to bed early tonight, kid," Sans said. After finishing handing out the food, Toriel sat down. "So, the next PTA meeting's today, right?"

"Yes. Do you still want to go with me?" She asked.

"Yup. It's not that bad, besides, it's actually kind of fun," He replied. Toriel smiled.

"I'm glad you want to participate more. The more help, the merrier."

Flowey finished eating and curled back up in a ball. "Tell Mrs. Busch she sucks as a teacher," He grumbled tiredly.

"Flowey, that was rude," Toriel scolded. He growled.

"But she is! Frisk no idea how to do their homework last night!" He pointed out. "The wlking grease ball had to help us!" Sains quirked a brow. Grease ball? That was a new one.

"MAYBE IT WAS JUST THAT ASSIGNMENT," Papyrus tried to calm the frustrated flower. Flowey grumbled and turned away, not in the mood for arguments. For now.

* * *

 

 

 Sans sat next to Toriel, leaning back in the chair. Kavita wasn't there this time, which was unfortunate. he was sure the three of them would be telling the greatest puns. When the meeting officially started, Sans leaned back. He listened for a bit, then dozed off. He was comfortably napping until he heard Toriel using her "mom" voice, as he affectionately called it. She rarely used a strict tone, but when she did, things were serious.

"I don't know why this is even up for debate, Mrs. Busch," Toriel said.

"Maybe because I'm worried about the children," Linda huffed. Toriel clenched her jaw at the accusation that she didn't care for children. Sans immediately noticed how tense she was getting.

"Classes focusing on Monster history will not harm anyone. It will further educate people and help our species understand each other, "She informed.

Sans raised his hand. "May I put in my two cents?" He asked.

"Oh, not you aga--"

"Yes, you may, Sans," The Boss Monster inturrupted the woman before sitting down. Sans gave her a quick nod and stood up. He cleared his throat.

"A few hundred years ago, a Monser scientest known as Wing Dings Gaster created something called 'The Core'," He began. "It provided energy for all of the Underground in a clean way and was much safer than Nuclear Power Plants." He untucked his hands from his pockets. " Years later, Doctor Alphys made great discoveries on how SOULS worked and what made them up. For example, Human SOULS contain such a high amount of Determination that Monster's don't have enough physical mass to handle it." He pressed his palms to the table. "And that's just a few of the scientific discoveries that can benefit Human and Monster kind _by_ Monsters. To deny people from learning those things and possibly improving off of those ideas, you're denying evolution of technology and understanding of our world."

"I...I don't..." The woman stumbled over her words. He huffed and sat back down. "Fine, you win. Again."

"He sat back down as well, satisfied with himself. "Thank you. Now, uh, what else were we talking about?"

* * *

 

"Thank you for stepping in, I wasn't sure how much more I was able to take," Toriel massaged her temple. Sans stretched put on the couch, draping himself across her lap. "I must admit, though, it doesn't seem like she likes you very much."

"No skin off my bones," He said. She giggled and leaned down, nuzzling her nose against his cheek bone. The skeleton monster's face turned a light shade of blue as he laughed. She went to pull away, but Sans rested a hand on her cheek and gently guided her face back down. He leaned up and gingerly tapped his teeth against her nose in a modified kiss. She smiled and nuzzled him again.

"Ugh, Get a room."

Flowey's voice immediately made the two sit up and Sans to scurry off of Toriel's lap, face flushed. The plant was sitting on one of the end tables, smirking. Sans felt so very tempted to send him flying. Toriel cleared her throat and scratched her cheek. "Oh. Um... yes, do you need anything, Flowey?"

"Just wanted to watch some TV. Papyrus wanted to record some MTT to watch later on. He said something about helping Mettaton with his act," he informed.

"Yes, yes. I, um, just remembered. I need to clean my sock drawer," She stood up. "Excuse me." With that, she hurried up stairs. Sans waited until he heard her door slam shut to glare at the flower, who was still smirking.

"You did that on purpose," He said. Flowey's smile seemed to grow.

"So what if I did?" He grinned. Sans turned away and huffed. The flower let out a cackle and hopped the flower pot he was in on the couch. "You should have seen your face, it was priceless! I should embarrass you more often." He gasped dramatically. "Maybe even in front of Asgore! Oh, the second hand embarrassment would be hilarious!"

"You know, I can ground you."

"You wouldn't dare."

"Watch me."

The two sat there, glaring daggers at each other. Either FLowey would drop it, or Sans would ground him. It was just a battle of wills at this point. Sans smirked and tilted his head towards upstairs. "Friiiisk, Flowey's on time-out for being bad again."

"HE'S LYING!" The flower screamed as Sans picked him up and marched him  over to a stool that was sitting in the corner, setting him on it and turning him to face the wall. He roared and flailed from side to side. "I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU!"

"It's only for five minutes, 'bud'. You can 'wilt' to watch tv," Sans said, walking back to the couch and sitting down while Flowey continued to throw a tantrum.

Overall, it was a good day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so Sans and Linda continue to grow to despise one another and Flowey's still being a little shit. Just a normal Day in the Skele-Dreemurr household.


	5. Sick Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I know, I just can't help but worry at least a little bit."

Sans was startled awake by a shirt being thrown on his face. He sat up and pulled the garment off of his skull, looking down at it, then up at the perpetrator. There on the floor sat Flowey, an unimpressed look on his face. The skeleton flopped back down, though he didn't go back to sleep. "What's up?" He tried his best to ignore how stuffy his head felt or the weird taste in his mouth as he spoke. It was probably nothing.

"Well, today's your day off, Frisk is at school, Toriel and Papyrus are working, it's almost one in the after noon and I'm hungry," The flower listed.

"You know how the microwave works," Sans said and rolled back over. There were a few seconds of quiet before there was a small weight on his bed directly in front of him. He cracked open his eye sockets and saw the flower's face mere inches from his own, maliciously grinning. Surprised, he yelped and pulled back, falling off of the bed. Flowey laughed at the other's brief panic. Sans G]growled and sat up. He stopped and shook his skull, suddenly feeling dizzy for a moment. Maybe he just got up too quickly.

"Get dressed and make me lunch," He ordered as hopped off of the bed and started to hop over to the door.

Sans stood up and set a foot on the edge of the pot to stop the flower's hopping. "Whoa, there. What's the magic word?"

"Please," He spat. Satisfied, Sans pulled his foot away. The flower harrumphed and left the room. The monster shook his head again, and started to get dressed. The process was amazingly difficult, seeing as every time he bent over his world started to sway. He huffed and ran a hand over his forehead. Ok, that wasn't normal. Still, he chose to ignore it. Maybe all he needed was to eat.

It seemed that the longer he was awake, the worse he felt. The trip down stairs was slow and tedious, as was the walk to the kitchen. He stopped at the door way and leaned on the door frame. The dizzy spells were getting ridiculous; He wasn't even bending over and his world seemed to be spinning. Deciding not to risk it, Sans quickly pulled up a chair and sat down. He leaned forward and rested his head against the table, the coolness of the wooden surface feeling great against his skull. His entire frame was radiating heat and he couldn't seem to catch his breath. God, he felt like he'd ran a marathon and yet it was only a few feet. He didn't even notice being poked and prodded by Flowey's vines until the flower was practically yelling at him. He lifted his head and looked at the other.

He must have been delirious, because Flowey seemed actually worried. At least, until he noticed that Sans was now looking at him and immediately scoffed, acting indifferent to the situation. "What an idiot, getting yourself sick."

"Hey, sometimes it just happens," Sans said in a vain attempt to defend himself. He pushed himself up, now leaning back in the chair. "Oof."

"Just so you know, I'm not making you anything," Flowey grumbled as he used his vines to open the refrigerator and pulled out a butterscotch-cinnamon pie that had a large chunk taken out of it. He set the pie down on the table and used another vine to rummage around the drawers for a knife. He glanced up from the pastry, seeing the monster had fallen asleep in the chair. He sighed and carefully wrapped several vines around his body and moving him to the couch, roughly flopping him down onto it. Not that it seemed to bother him, he stayed fast asleep. "Stupid skeleton."

* * *

 

Toriel frowned as she pulled her hand away from the short monster's forehead. "He's burning up..." She placed a damp cloth on his forehead. Sans shifted a bit, but was otherwise didn't seem to notice it. She adjusted the blanket he was tucked under so he wasn't restricted in case he had to get up right away. When she, Frisk and Papyrus got  home, they'd assumed he was just power-napping on the couch as he usually did until Papyrus noticed how flushed he looked and discovered he had a hell of a fever. The taller skeleton knew what to do, though, and woke his brother so he could be taken to his room without being startled to find himself in a different location. Now, the short skeleton was curled up in his bed looking positively miserable. Toriel quietly exited the room and shut the door behind her. She leaned on the door and sighed. She knew that he would be fine, but something in the back of her mind said otherwise.

And she knew why.

But, this was different. it was just the flu. The flu wasn't terminal if treated correctly. She took in a deep breath and walked down stairs. On the couch was Papyrus, Frisk and Flowey. Papyrus was trying his best to help Frisk with a reading assignment while Flowey watched TV. Hearing the boss Monster come down the stairs, the trio looked up.

"HELLO, MISS TORIEL. HOW IS SANS DOING?" Papyrus asked.

"He's fine for now, but I'm still worried. His fever hasn't broken yet," She informed. Papyrus and Frisk frowned. "I've tried everything."

Frisk turned around, leaning over the back of their seat and signed out that everything would be ok and that Sans would be fine. Toriel smiled softly.

"I know, I just can't help but worry at least a little bit," she said. She patted the top of the child's head. "He is not getting worse, which is good."

"He's not getting better, either," Flowey mumbled.

"IT'S ONLY BEEN A FEW HOURS. JUST WAIT, HE'll BE BACK TO NORMAL IN NO TIME," Papyrus chirped.

Meanwhile, Sans was listening to everything from his room, having woken up when Toriel left the room. He felt terrible, to put it lightly. Part of him just wanted to stay in bed and ride this out, but another part of him wanted to get up and show everyone he was fine so no one would worry. He really hated making others worry about him. He stayed still for a few minutes, positively drained and he hadn't even done anything yet. He forced himself to sit up and let the damp cloth, which was now just as warm as he was, fall onto the blankets. He slowly got out of bed and walked across the room. He paused, taking a small break before continuing out of the room and partially down the stairs.

"Hey, guys," He greeted. Yikes, he sounded horrible. He sat down one one of the steps and watched as his brother and girlfriend scrambled over to him to make sure he was fine.

"SANS, YOU'RE AWAKE!"

"Oh, Dear, you look positively terrible. You should rest."

"WOULD YOU LIKE ME TO MAKE YOU SOME SOUP?"

"Yes, some soup should do. Sit tight, Sans, we will be back shortly."

The two then hurried to the kitchen. Sans couldn't help but chuckle. He honestly didn't feel like eating, but how could he turn them down at this point? He rested his chin o the palm of his hand and yawned. "So, kid, what's up?"

Frisk held up the book they were supposed to be reading.

"Reading, huh? Sounds fun."

They frowned.

"I take it you don't like that book," He laughed tiredly. "Why do they make you guys read such dumb books?"

Frisk shrugged, putting the book back down. The slid off of the cough and walked over to the skeleton monster, then sat down next to him. They placed a hand on his forehead. Surprised, Sans pulled back a bit.

"I know you're worried, but I'm fine. It's just a fever, it'll go away in no time," He reassured. The child crossed their arms. "Really. I'm fine." He stood up and went down the rest of the stairs and plopped onto the couch. Frisked sighed and sat next to him once more and picked up the book. Flowey grumbled to himself and glanced at the two from the corner of his eye.

"If you give me your sickness, I'll end you," The flower growled. Frisk picked their book bag up off of the floor and pulled the "badness level" chart out of one of the pockets, unfolding it and setting it on their desk, adding the threat to the flower's "level". "Oh, come on!"

"It's 'snot' nice the threaten someone who's sick," Sans said. Flowey hissed and sunk down in his flower pot. "I don't think you can even get it, seeing as you're a flower an all."

"I don't know and I don't want to find out," He growled.

* * *

 

Sans had eaten, drank, and was back in his room resting. Having some food in his system, he certainly felt much better than he did earlier in the day. The Skeleton Monster curled up in his blankets and closed his eye sockets. He was exhausted, but for some reason he just couldn't get to sleep. He rolled over, hoping that the change in position would help. It didn't. He sighed and rolled onto his back and stared up at the ceiling. He really wished there was something he could do that would bore him enough to put him to sleep, but all of the book he had were too interesting--not to mention he didn't want to strain his tired eyes.

"I wonder if I'll feel better tomorrow," He let his eyes slide shut once more and relaxed. He grumbled when he heard something fall outside of his window, interrupting his attempt at sleep. Kind of like snow falling from the roof. "Since when was it supposed to snow?"

He suddenly felt his chest tighten with anxiety. When he opened his eyes, he was in his old room in Snowdin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, this chapter's a bit of a shortie, but, I was feeling evil and decided to end it on a cliff hanger. X3
> 
> Plus, my internet died and I had to rewrite a good chunk of it.


	6. Wonderland

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Alright. Feel better soon, Sans."

Sans swallowed thickly. He knew a RESET was inevitable, but that still didn't stop his SOUL piratically snapping in two from the crushing force of his own emotions. It was almost overwhelming, especially since things seemed so fine. From what he could remember, which was surprisingly a lot, he was just a little sick. Something else must have triggered this. Maybe Frisk got hurt. Maybe they got killed and the RESET just happened.

Or did he just dream it all?

The short skeleton monster closed his eyes again. Maybe he'd go back to that dream. It was certainly better than this all over again for the millionth time. He rolled over and pulled the hood of his jacket up over his head. Yeah, that's what he'd do. Just sleep. He  stayed there for what felt like hours before he sat up and sighed. He couldn't just lay around, he had to actually do things. Sure, he did the bare minimum, but he still _did_ things. He slid out of bed, past the self-sustaining garbage tornado and treadmill, and out the door. Yep, it was definitely his and Papyrus's house in Snowdin. All he could do was grin and bear it, despite the surprisingly vivid memories of the past timeline. He'd experience déjà vu, he came up with ways to tell when a RESET happened when he didn't have that feeling, and the occasional nightmare certainly was a reminder of what he went through in a previous life, but he never really remembered like this.

His dreams gave him small moments, but he was recalling days, week, _months_ spent living on the surface. He remembered Frisk dragging him outside on a clear night so he could watch the real stars, Papyrus studying and getting his driving permit, then his driver's license. He remembered Toriel and Asgore talking about politics and giving Frisk advice for what they would have to say and do since they were the ambassador for Monsters. He remembered Undyne applying for a job in the wrestling business but was fired for being way too rough even for the heavy weights so she just ended up taking a job in construction. How Alphys was now taking classes so she could be a professor in a college not too far away and how she was top in her class and that Mettaton's career was skyrocketing.

He remembered how happy everyone was.

He stopped at the front door, a bright yellow sticky note catching his attention and bringing him out of his thoughts. He peeled the paper from the door and read it to himself. He cursed under his breath and tossed the note aside before bolting out the door. Papyrus was going to confront the human despite being told by practically everyone not to and to hide so he'd be safe, since they were killing everyone they could find. No. Not now. Not that he could remember just how _happy_ his brother was on the surface. Maybe if he was quick enough, he'd make in time, he wasn't that far away. He could make it.

The short skeleton skid to a halt, arriving just in time to see his brother's skull fall to the ground and his body to fall forward and turn to dust. Sans stood there and watched as the child that cut down the other without a second though continued to walk forward to Waterfall. The dust mixed in with the snow and before the dust could blow away, Sans forced himself to move forward and started to scoop it up in the red scarf that just laid there was a reminder of who that dust previously was. He sat there, not caring how long it was and held the dusty scarf close to his chest.

It felt like his ribs were being held in place as he tried to breathe, overwhelming sadness and anger making is frame shiver and making it hard to do anything else. He couldn't think, all he could do was sit there and struggle to reign in his emotions. He could swear he heard someone trying to get his attention, but he couldn't focus. He clenched his eye sockets closed.

"..ns? Sans?"

Alphys? She was supposed to be in Hotland evacuating people. The skeleton monster cracked open his eyes and found himself  not surrounded by snow, but looking up at a dark ceiling. He blinked a few times, realizing that he wasn't holding anything either. He was in his night clothes and laying on a bed that wasn't his. Or at least, not the bed he was just in minutes ago. It was a lot like his bed on the surface. He groaned and ran a hand over his skull. "What the hell?"

"Oh, thank goodness!" Alphys leaned over him and shined a light in his eyes. The skeleton blinked his eyes shut and turned away. "You're looking much better than you did before."

"What happened?" Sans asked, deciding not to even try sitting up. He felt way too physically and emotionally drained to even think about moving at the moment.

"W-well, your fever spiked drastically and you weren't waking up," Alphys explained. "And T-Toriel called me and I came over right away. It took a lot of ice packs, but your fever finally broke." The reptile monster put a hand on his forehead. "Y-yeah, you're way cooler than you were."

"Guess you can say I'm pretty 'chill' right now," He laughed tiredly. "So, uh, what caused my fever to spike so bad?"

"Probably overexertion. Toriel did mention that you were at least trying to walk around and be more active," She stated.

"Oops."

"J-just try not to move around too much anymore? With how low your base stats are, pushing your self probably isn't the best idea."

He paused for a moment before replying. "I didn't worry anyone too much, did I?"

"I think you know the answer to that," Alphys said. Sans cursed to himself. "But, it seems that you should be fine for now, so long as you don't overexert yourself again. Just stay in bed and drink plenty of fluids and try to steer clear of heavy foods."

"Will do, Doc," Sans said and groped around the sheets for his blankets. Once he found one of them, he pulled it over himself.  "You can go ahead and break the good news to everyone."

"Alright. Feel better soon, Sans," She said and exited the room. Sans laid there, staring up at the ceiling. So, everything that happened before was just a fever dream. A vivid, terrifying fever dream. No wonder he remembered the past "Timeline" so clearly, he never left it.

What a relief. 

* * *

 

 The next few days, everyone watched him like a hawk. He'd catch Toriel and Frisk cracking open the door and peeking inside his room to make sure he was ok, Papyrus would occasionally actually go into the room and tap his shoulder and ask if he was alright, and, even more rarely, Flowey would prod his ribs with a vine and ask if he was dead yet. Sans supposed this is what he got for scaring everyone so badly. He didn't like being coddled. Still, he did as he was told and didn't move around much unless absolutely necessary until his fever was nearly gone. Then he started to move around and do little things, like  cleaning up toys and coloring books that Frisk and Flowey were playing with and ended up falling asleep before they could put them back or putting dishes away.

Toriel still fussed, but he didn't mind. It was in her nature to be a bit of a mother hen towards just about everyone and he found that positively adorable. Papyrus was pretty much his normal self, though Sans could tell he was keeping a nonexistent eye on him for any sign of worsening. Frisk was a lot more gentle with the short skeleton than usual, which was really saying something, and Flowey was... Flowey. He generally ignored the short skeleton, spat insults at him when in a mood of his, or used him as a means to complain about something on tv that was "stupid". Typical demon flower behavior.

Sans plopped down next to said demon flower on the couch. Flowey glared up at him for a second, then went back to watching one of Mettaton's sitcoms. "What're you up to?" He asked the plant, who growled.

"Watching this dumb show. Why?"

"Just making conversation."

 "Can't you converse elsewhere?"

"Where's the fun in that?" He said. Flowey glared up at him, then huffed and sunk down in his flower pot, just his head sticking out of the dirt so he wouldn't miss the show. "C'mon, don't be a 'soil' sport." Flowey growled at him, which only made the skeleton chuckle. He heard someone walking in from the kitchen, but didn't pay much mind to the noise.

"I see you're feeling better," Toriel said from behind the short monster. She leaned down and pecked the top of his skull.

"Yup, I feel like a million bucks," He replied, looking up at her and pushing himself up a bit to tap his teeth on her nose. She giggled at the action, which made the sentient plant sitting not too far away roll his eyes.

"Dinner will be ready soon, can you two please set the table while I get Frisk and Papyrus?" Toriel asked.

"Sure thing, Tori," Sans said, standing up and picking Flowey up. Flowey quickly shot out one of his vines, picking up the tv remote and turning on the record function so he could watch what he missed later. Once in the kitchen, Sans set him down in the middle of the table. "Ok, you're in charge of silverware and napkins." He said as he opened one of the cupboards, pulling out a few plates.

"Fine, whatever," Flowey grumbled and used his vines to get the silverware out of one of the kitchen drawers. He started to put the utensils down in their appropriate spots, occasionally looking up as Sans set the plates down. "You know, I never took you for a relationship guy. Especially with her of all people."

"She's a funny lady and I'm a funny guy. It works," The skeleton monster shrugged. "Why do you ask?"

"Just curious, since you're a lazy bag of bones," The flower harrumphed.

"You got me there. I dunno, she popped he question and I decided to try," He began. "I can't guarantee it'll be forever, but we're happy now, aren't we?"

"In a sickeningly sweet way, I suppose," He rolled his eyes. "And I really mean 'sickeningly'." Sans chuckled. "What?"

"You sound like a spoiled kid who's upset his mom has a new boyfriend," He said. Flowey's mouth hung open for all of ten seconds before he shook his head and hissed at the other, bouncing with anger.

"You idiot! I don't care who she's with, I just hate how freaking _embarrassing_ you two are!"

"Suuure you are. Did you forget that you called her 'Mom' once already?"

"IT WAS AN ACCIDENT, FRISK CALL HER MOM ALL THE TIME!"

"Uh-huh, whatever you say."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Slams fist on desk* I have no idea why this took so long but the deed is done and now I can move on to more PTA shinanigans and Flowey being a dick. Note to self: Listen to the Attack on Titan OST to get motivation more often.


	7. Pillow Forts

Flowey was uncharacteristically quiet that morning, staying down in his flowerpot and just glaring at anyone who wasn't Frisk. The child, worried about their newest friend, offered him a colored pencil so he could draw with them. The flower growled, but extended a vine and took the item anyway. Frisk smiled and pushed a blank paper over to him. Flowey started to scribble on the paper, clearly trying to purposely break the pencil.

"Easy, there, bud," Sans said. Flowey huffed and stopped trying to break the pencil and just scribbled normally. The flower had violent tendencies, that was obvious, but with everything else about his demeanor, something was surely bothering him.

"Is something wrong?" Toriel asked as she set a plate of pancakes down in front of him. Flowey sunk back down into the pot and grumbled something that vaguely sounded like "I'm fine" before he used a vine to pick up a fork and stabbed at the food on his plate several times.

"YOU SEEM STRESSED," Papyrus stated. He held out a puzzle to the other. "WOULD YOU LIKE A PUZZLE TO CALM YOUR NERVES?" Flowey shook his head and continued stabbing the defenseless pancake before finally deciding to eat it. Sans was tempted to try and get an answer out of the plant, but decided against it. The flower was unpredictable when in one of his moods.

"If you need anything, please don't hesitate to ask," Toriel stated as she sat down. Flowey made a noise of acknowledgement and continued eating.

Once everyone else was gone, either to school or work, Sans sat down on the couch with Flowey in tow and turned the TV on. TV always seemed to calm the other down when he was upset about anything, since it mainly gave him something else to rant about. The demonic plant stayed down in the pot as he watched one of Mettaton's cooking shows. There was a few minutes of awkward silence before Sans spoke. "So, what's bugging you?

"I have to start going to school since I'm technically still a kid. I told Toriel how old I was and she went--" his face morphed to mimic hers and he changed his voice to be a near perfect copy of hers. "Oh my goodness, you're so young!" He changed his face and voice back to normal. " And she said she'd enroll me when I was behaved enough."

"That's why you're so upset?"

"Of course! I don't want to be stuck in a room full of idiots all day! And what's worse is that I'm in Frisk's class with that dumb teacher Mrs. Busch!" The flower roared. Sans couldn't tell that wasn't the only thing bothering him, but didn't pry. He really didn't feel like getting into a fight. Instead, he chuckled.

"Ah, school's not that bad. It'll give you something to do during the day other than sitting around," he informed.

"I. Don't. Care! It's stupid!" He hopped angrily in the flower pot then sunk back down in the soil and pouted.

"If you don't cause any trouble, I'll ask Tori to make one of those snail pies you like so much."

The flower perked up slightly. "Throw in some nice cream and you have a deal."

"We'll see."

* * *

 Toriel smiled and put a hand on her mouth, trying her best not to comment on how cute it was. Sans was resisting the urge to laugh. Flowey was currently wearing a tiny, handmade backpack that Frisk made out of spare fabric and it looked both silly and adorable. The flower's disgruntled expression definitely didn't help. "Laugh and I'll end you," Flowey growled. Frisk sighed a day sat down, setting the flower pot on their lap.

"I think it looks good on you," the Boss Monster reassured.

"Yeah, you're really 'pollen' it off," Sans said. "I'm sure Paps will tell you it looks really cool when he gets home."

"I don't care what _you_ think, I think this looks ridiculous," the plant grumbled. "Everyone's going to laugh."

"I'm sure no one will laugh at you," Toriel said. She lightly patted the top of his head, which made him freeze for a moment before he continued mumbling to himself about how dumb it looked. "Hmm... will it make you feel better if I told you I will be making snail pie when you get home tomorrow?"

He nodded, but still didn't look happy. Frisk set him next to them and took the hand-made back pack off of him. They frowned and looked the bag over, trying to see if it could be improved. "It's not the bag, it just looks stupid when it's on me," he said, sinking down into the soil.

"Maybe you will change your mind about it after school," Toriel suggested.

"I doubt it," Flowey grumbled.

Toriel  knelt down so she was closer to eye level with the other. "Would you like to help me make some brownies? I'll let you lick the spoon." The flower was quiet, but nodded and straightened himself out of the dirt a bit, finally feeling less annoyed. He instinctively sunk back down into the soil in the pot when Toriel lifted him up. He was used to Frisk, Papyrus and occasionally Sans toting him around, but Toriel didn't typically carry him. "Well, let's not waste any time, then. Frisk, do you want to help as well?" The child smiled and nodded, hopping up from the couch and following the Boss Monster to the kitchen.

* * *

 

 Sans rolled over on the couch, misjudged how close he was to the edge and tumbled off and onto the floor. He blinked and sat up, rubbing his now sore arm. Having time to actually take a nap during the day wasn't something he was used to, seeing as he had to keep an eye on Flowey. The Skeleton Monster  hoisted himself back up onto the couch and stretched out. It was almost time for Papyrus to come home and for him to start to head to work, so he didn't go back to sleep. Instead, he flipped through the tv channels. He flinched when he heard a knock at the door. Strange, as far as he knew, everyone else was busy, so it couldn't have been anyone he knew. "One sec," He called as he slowly stood up and made his way over to the door. He swung the door open and quirked a nonexistent brow. There stood Frisk, their head tilted downwards and their hair obscuring their face. "Kid? What are you doing home? Where's To--"

Sans's eye sockets widened as a burning pain spread across his chest. He slowly looked down, seeing his shirt being torn and a deep gash running across his ribs and sternum. The Skeleton Monster wobbled on his feet before collapsing to his knees, catching himself with his hands as he pitched forward as not to land face first onto the concrete ground. His vision struggled to stay in focus, blurring every few seconds, seeing tiny grains of dust forming on the tips of his phalanges. He winced and looked up, confused and scared out of his mind, the first thing he noticed was a dusty knife clenched in the human's hand. His left eye burned cyan and yellow, realizing that it wasn't Frisk standing before him, but a child in a green and cream stripped sweater and a less messy hair style. The child looked down at him, crimson eyes narrowed and expressionless.

They knelt down and tapped the tip of the blade against the other's cheek. They tilted their head slightly to one side as if pondering what they would say. Sans felt his arms grow weak, but refused to let himself fall. He could feel himself starting to sweat from trying so hard to hold onto life--or maybe he was melting from using too much Determination just to hang on, he couldn't tell. "You know, don't you, comedian?"

"W..what...?" He struggled to get the word out, not even bothering to finish the sentence he wanted to say. The child rested the blade tip against his cheek and slid it across the bone with a scraping noise.

"You know what Frisk did before, don't you?" They waited a few moments for an answer, and when none came they scoffed. "Well, they chickened out at the last second, so you can be happy about that." They watched the monster's face, red eyes still void of emotion while Sans was glaring daggers at them. "And yet you still treat them like part of the family. Why? Don't you feel at least a little bit of hatred towards them?"

"N...n..."

" 'No', that's what you're trying to say, right?" They interrupted. They stood up and rolled their shoulders. "Azzy was right, Monsters _are_ weird." They paused. "But, at least Monsters are still better than Humans. It's a shame it had to end like this, but..."

Sans tried to dodge, but found his body wasn't cooperating with him as the human swung the knife down.

"You're in my way."

* * *

 

Sans's eye sockets snapped open, left eye blazing blue and several bones shot forward and embedded themselves in the ceiling with a crash. He blinked a few times, wondering why he was looking at the ceiling and not the red-eyed child from before. It took a few moments of being still and holding his breath for him to realize he was laying on the couch, safe and sound. He screwed his eyes shut and rolled over onto his side, grabbing a cushion and holding it close to himself as he tried to calm himself down. That one was a new one and he honestly wasn't looking forward to sleeping again for quite a while. Maybe he'd keep himself awake for the next few days. Yeah, that sounded like a plan, not the best plan, but a plan nonetheless. Once he was sure he was fine, he released the cushion and sat up, groping around in his pockets for his cellphone. He didn't care if they were busy or not, he was at the very least texting everyone to make sure they were ok. He texted Papyrus first, writing that he was bored and was wondering how work was going to the younger skeleton. Within seconds, the other had replied in all caps about how his day was going great. Sans let out a small breath, relieved that his brother was ok. Next was Toriel, who replied a few minutes later and told him that she was fine and that she would be home after school with Frisk and Flowey.

Soon, he'd texted just about everyone who's number was in his phone. Some didn't reply, which was expected but it still filled him with anxiety. He glanced up at the holes that were now in the ceiling and frowned. That was going to be difficult to explain. And to fix. He groaned and flopped down onto his back and put his hands over his eyes. The stress was staring to give him a headache. He jumped when he phone started to ring, then picked the device up and looked at the name. It was Papyrus. The skeleton monster answered the call and pressed the phone to his temple. "Yeah?" He sounded a bit more distressed than intended, hopefully Papyrus didn't notice.

"HELLO, SANS. I WAS JUST CALLING TO LET YOU KNOW THAT I MIGHT BE A LITTLE LATE GETTING HOME," he began. "ARE YOU OK?"

Of course he noticed. Sans paused before answering. "I broke the ceiling." Well, it wasn't a lie.

"WHAT? HOW DID YOU DO THAT?"

"I uh...saw a cockroach and I missed."

"SAAAANS! HOW BAD IS IT?"

"Uuumm...it could be worse."

There was a sigh. "I'LL SEE IF WE CAN GET IT FIXED IN A TIMELY MANNER. YOU REALLY SHOULD BE MORE CAREFUL, SANS!"

"I know, I know. Sorry."

"PLEASE BE MORE CAREFUL FROM NOW ON, I DON'T WANT YOU TO ACCIDENTALLY BRING THE HOUSE DOWN ON YOURSELF."

"I know. I will be, don't worry. This was just a one-time thing," Sans reassured. He hoped it was, he really didn't want to cause any more damage. "I'll pay for the repairs. See ya." He hung up before his brother could reply. He tossed the phone aside, letting it plop onto the cushion next to him. Work or no work, he wasn't going. He'd call off when he felt like he could, and that wasn't right this second. He looked up at the holes. They weren't deep, thankfully, but they certainly were unsightly and could lead to problems if left untended to. He'd woken up from nightmares with his magic semi-active, but a time where he actually attacked in his fear-fueled haze never sprung to mind.

This was getting out of hand. 

What if he accidentally hurt someone? He wouldn't be able to forgive himself, even if it wasn't really his fault. And heaven forbid he use a Gaster Blaster. He'd take off part of the house and then some. And probably _kill_ someone.

He shivered. "Stop thinking about it," He scolded himself and reached over, picking his phone back up and dialing his workplace. There was no way he was stable enough mentally to go. After a brief conversation with his boss and getting the day off, he hung up. He didn't set the device aside, though, but instead dialed another number. Pressing the phone to his temple, he waited for an answer.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaahhh sorry this chapter is so late. Personal issues. I'll try to get the next one up sooner. I've been wanting to introduce Chara in this for a while, and I'm excited for the role they'll play later on. :3


	8. Little Talks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not even three seconds later, there was the sound of glass breaking and Flowey exclaiming in anger about how the glass got in his way.

Sans took a sip from the oddly adorable skull-shaped tea-cup he was given. He set the cup down and leaned back in his chair. "Thanks for having me over, Asgore. I really needed it," He said. The large Boss Monster nodded and set his own cup down.

"Any time. You told me that you wanted to talk about something?" He asked. The short skeleton sighed and sat up a bit.

"Do you have any remedies for nightmares?" He started. "They've been more frequent and, just yesterday, I ended up using an attack and putting holes in the ceiling."

The former King gave him a concerned look. "What kind of nightmares?"

Sans hesitated. "Just your run of the mill stress dreams." He shrugged. Asgore frowned, which in turn made him frown. "Yeah, you caught me. They're like the ones from before but, uh, worse, I guess."

"Do you wish to talk about them?"

"Not if I can help it."

"You don't have to if you don't want to," The Boss Monster reassured. He picked his tea back up and took a small sip of it. "But know that I am all ears if you want to."

Sans nodded and took another drink tea. Golden flower tea was always oddly comforting. He'd known Asgore for years, being a scientist at one time in his life for staters, and would sometimes find himself just sitting and talking with the other Monster about whatever, be it a new discovery or just about the weather. Occasionally, though, he'd ask for advice and the Boss Monster was always more than happy to help. "The last one was different. It didn't feel like something that'd happened before," He said, deciding it was best to not bottle everything up and end up exploding later on. "It felt real like the other ones, though." He rested a bony hand on his chest and gripped the fabric. "The worst part was that it was on the Surface, not in the Judgement Hall like usual."

Asgore raised a brow. "And you have never had a nightmare about the Surface before?" Sans shook his head. "Perhaps it was caused by you worrying about the future. I know you don't like to show that you are unhappy, but you really should express yourself more and talk to those who understand much better than I do. Not that I'm saying that talking with you in unpleasant--quite the contrary, actually. I just want you to have the best help if you are in need of it."

"That's a lot easier said than done," The Skeleton Monster stated.

"It will take time, but I know that once you're able to work things out, you will feel much better," He said. "Would you like some more tea?"

"The "flora" the better," Sans held the cup out, grinning at his own joke. Asgore chuckled and poured the other Monster some more tea.

* * *

 

 Sans simply draped himself across Toriel's lap when she greeted him from the couch once he returned home, He mentally debated on whether or not he should tell her about his dreams. He didn't want her to worry about him, but her not knowing anything would make her worry even more. The Boss Monster stroked the top of his skull in a soothing manner, noticing that he was uncharacteristically quiet. Sans closed his eyes and leaned into the touch, wanting nothing more but to stay like that for hours. "Is everything alright?" Toriel asked, continuing to pet his skull.

"Mm-hmm," he hummed. "Just thinking."

"About what?"

"Stuff."

She raised a brow at the vague answer, but didn't pry. She knew how he was, if he had anything to say, he'd say it in his own time. Instead, she decided to change the subject. "How are the flowers we gave Asgore doing?"

"Beau-"tea"-ful," He stated. Toriel let out a small giggle, which made his smile grow ever so slightly. He cracked open an eye socket and looked up at her. "So, when's the next meeting?"

"Tomorrow," She answered. "I heard we are getting another member, as well."

"Awesome."

"I was thinking that I should make some Butterscotch-Cinnamon pie for this meeting. I wonder if anyone will like it."

" 'Crust' me, you make the best pies ever," Sans sat up and stretched. "So, the kid's doing their homework?"

"Yes, both Frisk and Flowey are in the kitchen doing an art project," Toriel stated. "They wanted to do it themselves." Not even three seconds later, there was the sound of glass breaking and Flowey exclaiming in anger about how the glass got in his way. Toriel sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Oh, dear..."

"Sounds like they're having fun," Sans couldn't help but snicker, mainly at the flower's ranting.  He scooted himself off of her lap as she stood up.

"I'll get the dust pan," The Boss Monster sighed. "I'll be right back, Sans."

"Alright," He watched her go out to the kitchen before he flopped on the couch and ran his hands over his face. He wanted to talk to her about what was happening, but he chickened out. As he usually did. This was definitely going to be easier said than done. He looked up at the ceiling, the holes now covered with a tarp until they could be properly repaired. He frowned and rolled over onto his side and picked at the seam on his jacket sleeve. He stopped his picking when he heard the door opening, sitting up to see who it was.

"GREETINGS BRO--" Papyrus began as he swung the door open, but was interrupted when he was swept off of his feet. The tall skeleton squeaked and latched onto the perpetrator.

"Good evening, Darlings!" Mettaton greeted in his usual enthusiastic tone, Papyrus in his arms. The robot set the other down and stepped farther into the room. Papyrus, face currently flushed a bright orange, cleared his throat and adjusted his scarf. "How is everything?" Sans shrugged and sat up.

"It's been pretty ok,'" he answered. "Everyone else is in the kitchen, but I wouldn't go in if I were you. Flowey broke something."

Mettaton raised his eyebrows in mild surprise. "Frisk's little flower friend? I'm amazed he lasted this long. The last time I was here, he threw one heck of a temper tantrum."

"You're not the only one," Sans scoffed. "The kid's trying, though." He turned to face the robot just in time for a ticket to be shoved in his face. He leaned back and carefully took the piece of paper. "Huh?"

"While Im thinking about it, I decided to invite all of you, and a few others, to my next live show," The entertainer informed, as if completely ignoring the previous conversation. "I have some special plans for you all!"

"That sounds like a ton of fun," The short Skeleton Monster said and stuffed the ticket into his pocket.

"OH! METTATON, I FORGOT TO TELL YOU!" Papyrus exclaimed. Mettaton turned his attention to the other.

"Yes, Sweetie?" He asked. At that point Sans tuned out the conversation and leaned over the back of the couch and glanced off into the kitchen, checking on how everyone was doing. Toriel was throwing away the remaining glass shards, Flowey was hunkered down in his flowerpot and Frisk was patting his petals in an attempt to calm him. Flowey seemed to ignore them, instead watching Toriel as she finished cleaning. He straightened up a bit when she approached him. She said something to him, probably something about being more careful next time, and patted the top of his petals. He didn't budge, but he did seem to visibly relax. Sans turned back around and tucked his hands behind his head. The demon flower was finally starting to adapt, which was good.

Or that just meant he was figuring out how to trick them.

Either way, he'd keep an eye on the plant.

* * *

 Sans sat down at his usual spot in the meeting room. Toriel wasn't able to go this time, which was a shame since she really wanted to bake for them, and he could see that Kavita wasn't there either. He leaned back and closed his eyes and was just starting to drift off to sleep when someone tapped his shoulder. He looked up and saw a tall brown-haired man. Sans leaned forward and turned to face him properly. "Hey, there," The man greeted. He then motioned to the chair to his left. "This seat taken?"

"Not today, the lady that usually sits there isn't here today," Sans shrugged.

 "Thanks," He said and sat down next to the Skeleton Monster. He held his hand out to the other. "I'm David Garner."

"I'm Sans the Skeleton," Sans greeted and shook his hand.

_Pppppbbbbbbffft!_

David looked genuinely confused  for a moment until Sans chuckled and held his palm out, showing a small whoopee cushion strapped to his hand. "Heh heh heh. The old whoopee cushion in the hand trick. That never gets old."

The Human seemed a bit stunned for a second before laughing himself. "Nice one. You know, I used to be a practical joker back in the day."

"Yeah, you could say I'm a bone-afide prankster," he said. It took David a second to get the pun, then he snickered.

"That was terrible."

 "That's what makes them so good."

When the meeting officially started was when things started to get a bit hairy. David had an unfortunate habit of not letting people finish what they were saying before he'd propose his own idea on the subject, which was just frustrating for everyone. Not wanting to deal with that train wreck, Sans leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, trying to take a well needed nap.

"Will you _please_ stop interrupting me and listen to what I'm saying?"

The short Skeleton Monster could pick out that shrill shriek from anywhere. Linda was yelling and he certainly had an idea of who she was yelling at. He sat up and stretched. He looked up and was greeted with the sight of Linda and David currently arguing.

"I will once you say something worth listening to."

He watched the two bicker for a few more moments before he raised his hand, gaining their attention. "Um...what did I miss?"

Linda pinched the bridge of her nose. "We were having a discussion about gluten-free opt--"

"She wants to feed the kids gluten-free garbage," David said, not letting her finish. The blonde woman glared at him and balled her fists at her side. If looks could kil...

Honestly, the Skeleton Monster could understand her frustrations. He didn't much care for her personally, but even he let her speak before offering a rebuttal. "So, she wants gluten free _options_ for lunches?"

"Yes, that's what I've been trying to explain!" The woman exclaimed and threw her hands up in exasperation.

"Well, that's how it starts, then everything gets changed. Besides, that gluten-free stuff doesn't even work for weightloss," David stated as he crossed his arms over his chest. Sans glanced around the room. Eveyone seemed to be watching and expecting something since there was an obvious stalemate. He sighed.

"Celiac Diseas is a diseas where the body reacts to gluten as if it were poison, causing abdominal pain, discomfort, vomiting and other symptoms," Sans begain. The two humans turned their attention away from glaring at eachother and to listen to what he had to say. "It's most common in infants and children. It's always good to have an option for people who can't eat certain things." He scratched the back of his skull. "As much as I hate to admit it, Linda's right on this one."

David raised his brows upon hearing the information while Linda looked proud as a peacock. "Can't, uh... can't they bring their own food?"

"Not every kid can bring their own lunch because they don't _have_ food to bring," the skeleton stated.

"Oh," He sheepishly sat down. Sans sat down as well, content. He went back to trying to nap when he felt a tap on his arm. He cracked open an eye and looked over to whoever tapped him. David gave him an embarrassed smile. "Well, looks like I made a total fool of myself."

"You just gotta choose your battles wisely," he shrugged. "We've all been there."

"Yeah, you say that again."

"Now, if you excuse me, I'm gonna finish my mid afternoon nap."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact, I didn't even start this chapter until last month. |D I'm the best at keeping up with updating schedules. Not.
> 
> I'm not too proud of this chapter, but that's what happens when you have to set up for something big later on in a story, you get the virtually uneventful chapters. :3


End file.
